Iran-Israel conflict could ‘shut down oil coming out of Middle East’: Ex-NATO commander

“What makes this moment dangerous, just like the days before World War II, is the rise of strategic tension with China in the Pacific,” he told radio host John Catsimatidis in a Sunday interview on “The Cats Roundtable” on WABC 770 AM.

“You’ve got a pretty significant ground war going in Europe, of course, because of the invasion of Ukraine by Vladimir Putin. And you’ve got this enormous disturbance parked on the Middle East between Israel and Iran, which could, in the worst case scenario, shut down oil coming out of the Middle East.”

“When you put all that together, it’s as turbulent a moment as I think you could find going back to the late 1930s,” he added.

Stavridis shared that he remains hopeful that the next American leader will help prevent more fatal conflict and promote some form of peace in the Middle East.

“Whoever you are hoping is our next president, after the election, let us join hands together. We’ll certainly have some legal controversies […] But once this is decided […] I […] believe that we need to come together as Americans,” Stavridis stated.

His comments come weeks after General Jens Stoltenberg stepped down from the helm of NATO and ushered in a new wave of leadership with newly appointed Mark Rutte. Rutte has been guiding the alliance’s approach to funding Ukraine in the middle of a contested American election.